Now you don’t have to go to Hawaii to taste the finest ice cream on the islands.
It’s available in Pacific Beach, Point Loma and North Park thanks to Trang and Ryan Hammond.
The couple have created Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream at 3740 Sports Arena Blvd., Suite 6, 1418 Garnet Ave. and 3077 University Ave.
Hammond’s offers scores of flavors of super-premium ice cream exclusively from Tropical Dreams, a company on the big island of Hawaii that has been making ice cream and related products for more than 20 years featuring more than 160 flavors.
“It’s very high in butterfat content, 18 percent, which gives it its rich flavor,” said Trang. “Every bite is very flavorful.”
The pair discovered Tropical Dreams during a recent visit to Hawaii.
“We tried it and, even though we weren’t big ice cream people, we came back every single day for ice cream,” Trang said. “We thought, ‘This is something really special.’ ”
Trang, who had been in the health care industry and had a small child, was looking to change careers. Her husband, Ryan, is in real estate.
“We wanted to figure out a way where we could work together as a team, allowing me to work from home,” she said. “We thought, ‘Why not an ice cream shop?’ We really loved this product. It is near and dear to us. And we really love Hawaii. We found a way to be the only distributor in Southern California.”
To celebrate their success and thank San Diegans for their support, Hammond’s Ice Cream will have a Kick-Off to Summer celebration at all three of their locations Saturday, May 28 from noon until midnight. Raffle prizes will include more than 100 giveaways, with five grand prize winners receiving a year of free ice cream.  Mini cake cones will be for sale for $1. Also, the first three guests to say “Summer Kick-Off” at each location will receive a free flight of 32 mini cones.
Speaking of flights of ice cream, Hammond’s has adapted the concept for the ice cream industry to allow people to sample more flavors at once. A flight is six mini cones. There’s even a flight of 32 flavors that Trang said some customers have even managed to consume themselves.
“That’s at least three pints of ice cream,” she noted.
Ice cream flavors at Hammond’s include everything from classics like cookies and cream, orange dreamsicle and butter pecan, to unique Hawaiian-inspired flavors like chocolate coconut with macadamia nuts, Kona coffee with caramel and Lychee. They also have sorbets and ice creams that will remind patrons of their last tropical vacation such as pineapple coconut cream, mango, toasted coconut and passion fruit.  
Hammond’s interior design at each location is as unique as the product being scooped out.
“We wanted to make sure that each shop, when somebody stepped in there, they knew it was a Hammond’s,” Trang said. “So we have big lights and tables in each one made of reclaimed materials. And we have antique ice cream scoopers, from as far back as the ’20s, mounted on each shop’s walls. So there’s a different feeling and design when you step in.”
Hammond’s shops are all done in a pleasing shade of green picked out specially by the owners.
Discussing their new enterprise, Ryan Hammond noted, “I think our uniqueness is why we are blessed with success, we offer a uniquely tasty product that is available in a unique concept of flights of mini ice cream cones, and the cherry on top is our exceptionally friendly staff.”
Hours in both PB and Point Loma Hammond’s are Sunday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. and noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.